Newly-Discovered Cave Gets ‘Star Wars’ Name

Have you ever felt incredibly sad that you can’t hop on a spaceship and travel to Tatooine? Maybe take in some sights, a pod race, or catch the smooth stylings of Figrin D’an and the Modal Nodes?

Well, we can’t make all of those dreams come true for you, but we can point you in the direction of a very real Sarlacc Pit.

According to CBC News, a cave was discovered in Canada earlier this month that has been named after the iconic pit from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The newly discovered cave might be the “largest ever found in Canada,” residing in the northeastern area of Wells Gray Provincial Park.

During a caribou census back in March, the cave was found by a helicopter crew from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. These same folks chose the name Sarlacc’s Pit “because of its similarity to the lair of the Sarlacc.”

“It was absolutely amazing,” Geologist Catherine Hickson said of the cave, “I immediately recognized that this was very significant.”

They believe the cave is approximately 135 metres deep (about 442 feet). “It’s about the size of a soccer field,” Hickson explained, “So, if you think of a soccer field and you put that soccer field on its end so you have this pit going down. Think about this giant circular or oval hole that just goes down and down and down.”

The cave sounds pretty terrifying, which is proof they chose the correct name. In Star Wars, the Sarlacc Pit, or the Great Pit of Carkoon, is best known for swallowing up Boba Fett during the showdown at Jabba the Hutt’s palace. The creature inside the pit supposedly takes 1,000 years to digest its victims. Yikes!

In the original version of the film, which was released in 1983, the pit basically looked like a hole with teeth. In the 1997 re-release, Lucas added CGI tentacles and a beak that resembled Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors. Hopefully, the Canadian cave doesn’t have anything horrifying lurking inside.

According to Hickson, “further investigations and research” into the B.C. cave are expected to continue in 2020.

“We think everything is known and everything has been discovered,” she said. “But here’s a major discovery that is made in today’s world and likely has never been seen before and certainly not explored before.’

If you’re unable to hop over to British Columbia to take a peak at the cave, have no fear, because tons of Star Wars content is coming directly to your home. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and a live-action Cassian Andor series are both scheduled to be released on Disney+.

Star Wars: Episode IX will hit theaters everywhere on December 20, 2019.